The cold tub: breaking the ice for groundbreaking benefits
Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge? Trending all over social media were videos of individuals who willingly stood under a waterfall of freezing, icy water in order to promote awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. The campaign was hugely successful (and continues today!) as more and more people consent to the temporary torture to support a great cause.
Watching peoples’ faces as they experienced the shock of freezing water is what made the Ice Bucket Challenge so entertaining. But what if we told you that cold water could actually be an effective form of therapy, and maybe even an enjoyable one?
Muscle repair and inflammation reduction
For athletes and fitness enthusiasts, cold water therapy has long been utilized as an effective way to soothe and repair muscles and reduce inflammation.
Cold water slows down blood flow by making blood vessels constrict. This constriction can help reduce swelling and inflammation, making it a hugely beneficial routine not only for bodies that train and compete, but for bodies that suffer from chronic pain.
When the blood vessels work to expand after a session of cold water therapy, circulation and oxygen to the muscles rush in, which aids in the healing process and could have longstanding benefits to overall blood flow health.
Metabolism and immunity boost
Cold water also boosts immunity by making the body work overtime to produce white blood cells in the attempt to warm up. As you can imagine, the cold water wakes up the body extremely efficiently. Putting the body through this also triggers it into speeding up metabolism, increasing energy.
Increased energy means reduced fatigue. Cold water therapy improves clarity of mind and has even been shown to reduce stress and anxiety. For fitness enthusiasts, the sped-up healing and metabolism boost more quickly prepare the body for the next workout or competition.
Mental grit
If you watch the faces of people dipping into cold tubs, they don’t look all too different from the faces of people who volunteered for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Despite all of the physical health benefits, the cold temperatures are still a shock to the system—an experience which doesn’t seem very tempting. But long-term mental gains make the experience as a whole enjoyable.
Just ask Michael Phelps.
Phelps has designed a new line of cold tubs with Master Spas to share with the world the benefits he has experienced through cold water therapy. “Life is about living in the moment,” he says. “When you are in a cold tub, you are forced out of your comfort zone. You can’t help but be in the present.”
He contends that the mental toughness required to submerge into a cold tub builds the endurance needed for serious competitors.
Why to buy a cold tub
Although not quite the same as the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, utilizing cold water therapy in cold tubs is a trend that is also worth following. Its health benefits, both physical and mental, cannot be denied.
Our brand new line of cold tubs are perfect for bodies in frequent achy pain, for serious athletes, or for anyone needing regular mental boosts. Visit us in our showroom in Mahomet, IL to learn more about this latest trend in spas and why it might be a good fit for you.
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